Automatic bromine water feeder



Dec. 4, 1951 H. WATERMAN 2,577,054

AUTOMATIC BROMINE WATER FEEDER I Filed June 24, 1946 Patented Dec. 4,1951 UNITED STATES PAT OFFICE AUTOMATIC" fiiiMINE WATER" FEEDER HerbertWaterman; Los Angeles, Calili; assignor torA-merican Potash & ChemicalCorporation, Tron-a, CalifL, a corporation of Delaware Appiieationqune24, 1946', Se'rial No.- 678 ,711-

2 Claims (01. 216-29) This invention relates to: an. apparatus:forautoma ti'cally and" continuously feeding bromine water and isparticularly directed to an apparatus designed tosupply bromine watercontinuously insvery small amounts;-

In the operation of small cooling towers at present it difficult tocontrol algae and bacterial slimfes. It is" the practice to employcertain stable and nonvolatile chemicals, such as sodiumpentachlorphenatei- This chemical is addedin high eoncentratioiito thecoolirigl tower alsout clne'e a month, but at the endof the month it: fe-frequently found that anappreciable growth oforganicmatter exists,which impairs seriously the cooling system" usedin cennection'with' thel V theoperationof small cooling towers; the daily loss ofwater from thetower frequently exceeds the total volumetric capacity of the to'wer sothat no matter how much algicide is added at the beginning of the month,that remaining in the tower at the end of the month is very small,indeed. The proper method of control of the algicide is to add thealgicide in a continuous manner, but because the amount required is sosmall, it has heretofore been found impracticable to provide anapparatus for automatically and continuously adding algicide. For largeinstallations there are available commercial feeders for the automaticand continuous addition of algicide.

Bromine is effective as an algicide when added in proper quantities tothe makeup water of a cooling tower. While the amount to be added issubject to considerable variation, about six parts per million should beemployed in the average case. If, for example, the bromine is added asbromine water containing 3% of bromine, about 200 parts per million ofthe bromine water is required. Accordingly, in towers where the makeupwater used at a rate of one pound per minute, approximately one-tenth ofa milliliter per minute of bromine water is required. Many towers are inoperation which require only onetenth of a pound of makeup water perminute, and for such towers only one one-hundredth of a milliliter perminute is required. As far as known, there has heretofore been availableno apparatus capable of supplying such small amounts in a reliablemanner. Accordingly, bromine water has not heretofore been popular as analgicide in the control of bacterial slimes for cooling towers.

It is the general object of the present invention to provide anapparatus for automatically 2- supplying bromine water which is capableofi sup plying the small amount required, for example; by coolingtowers; which apparatus is simple, in expensive, and foolproof.

The apparatus of the present inventionwill be fully understood from thefollowing descrip tion of the preferred form or example" of an apparatusembodying the invention, in which:

The figure is an elevation, mainly in-section.

Referring to the drawing, the feeder of the present invention includes acontainer l=, prefer-1 ably being in the form of a glass bottle; and onthe bottomof the container there is'provided a layer of liquid bromine2. A stopper 3, also pref erably of glass, closes the neck 4 of the"bottle I. Through the stopper 3 two tubes 5- and 6 pass; The first ofthese tubes is the capillary 5 which reaches: almost to: the bottom ofthe bottle I, ter-' minating preferably just above the top of thebromine layer 2. The upper end of the capillary 5 is connected to afunnel I in which there is placed a filtering media 8, the purpose ofwhich is to remove any particles in the liquid flowing through thecapillary 5.

The other tube 6 through the stopper 3 terminates just below the neck 4of the bottle I. The upper end of tube 6 terminates slightly below theupper rim of the funnel 1, the distance between these two points servingto provide a hydraulic head for driving, as hereinafter pointed out,fluid through the device.

In the use of the apparatus of the present invention, the completeassembly with the bottle I filled with bromine water, is placed inposition below the drip of liquid falling through the tower so that thefunnel I may overflow continuously and so that the fluid discharged fromthe upper end of the tube 6 will enter the pan of the cooling tower.There is thus provided in the use of the present invention apredetermined hydraulic head-the distance between the upper rim of thefunnel 1 and the upper end of the tube 6which forces the fluid downcontinuously through the capillary tube 5, thereby forcing the bromineimpregnated fluid in the bottle I upwardly through the tube 6, and thuscausing the bromine water to continuously enter the pan of the tower. Inthe bottle I the water is kept substantially constant with regard tobromine concentration, by diffusion of bromine from the bromine layer.The concentration is maintained practically constant when the apparatusis mounted as described in a water-cooling tower so that the temperatureof operation is substantially constant. The rate of feed. of brominewater may be readily altered as required by the particular cooling towerbeing serviced by the device in various manners. For example, the sizeof the capillary opening of the tube 5, or the length of the tube, maybe altered to thereby alter the flow rate through the device, or thehead maintained between the upper rim of the funnel l and the top of thetube 6 may be altered. In practical operation it has been found a simplematter to regulate the rate of feed over a wide range in the mannerdescribed. It has also been found possible to regulate the device Whilethe particular form of the apparatus herein described is well adaptedfor carrying out the objects of the present invention, variousmodifications and changes may be made, and this invention includes allsuch modifications and changes as come within the scope of the append- Ied claims.

I claim:

1. An automatic bromine water feeder comprising, a closed containeradapted to hold a layer of bromine and a super-imposed layer of brominewater into which the bromine from the bromine layer enters by difiusion,an inlet to the container comprising a capillary tube having a funnel atits upper end, said funnel being ex- In practical operation adequate 4terior to and above the container, and the capillary tube extending intothe lower end of the container, and a discharge tube from the containerhavin an inlet near the top thereof, and an outlet above the containerand below the rim of said funnel.

2. An automatic bromine water feeder comprising, a closed container forholding'a layer of bromine and a super-imposed layer of bromine waterinto which the bromine from the bromine layer enters by diffusion, acapillary tube extending into the container in position to terminatenear but above the bromine layer, such capillary tube extending exteriorof the container and there terminating in an overflow funnel having arim disposed above the container, and said feeder having an outlet whoseentrance end leaves the container at a point above the discharge pointof the capillary tube and whose outlet end is above the container andbelow the rim of the overflow funnel.

HERBERT WATERMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

